Early Learning Check-Ups Available for all Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten Students

On February 1st, registration for Kindergarten and Junior Kindergarten (JK) students opened at Prairie Rose Public Schools (PRPS). Upon completion of the 2024-2025 Student Registration Form, parents will be asked to sign up for an Early Readiness Checkup. These check-ups are for all children between three and five years old who will be attending school or preschool for the first time this coming September. Parents can check to see if their child qualifies by using the new Student Age Calculator on the PRPS website (www.myprps.com/student-registration-guide). 

The Early Readiness Check-Up takes about 30 minutes and allows parents or guardians to meet with a speech pathologist and early learning facilitator. “It is quite informal with lots of conversation. The child will play and interact while parents share what development has been like thus far,” explained Director of Student Experiences Lisa Lindsay. “We are looking to flag students who need early supports, so that we can get them into programming and offer speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, deaf/hard of hearing, and vision services.”  

This is a new, proactive approach for PRPS because it can take months to identify any needs once a student starts school. Flagging students in the Spring will help to develop programming for September, allowing supports to be put in place as soon as the children begin school. 

JK is a pay for service program and is available to all children who will be 3 years old by December 31, 2023. However, if the child is flagged for early intervention services, Program Unit Funding (PUF) is available. This is another benefit of the Early Readiness Checkups as they allow PRPS and each school to know how many children are eligible for PUF before the school year begins.   

If a parent cannot make the scheduled day for the checkup at the school their child will attend, an evening event at the division office is being held on March 27, 2023. Alternatively, the parent(s) and child can attend a checkup session at another school.  

For those who have registered their child without completing the sign-up form for a checkup, school administrative assistants will be reaching out. The checkups are fun and meant to be enjoyable. The format will be play-based with snacks and juice boxes available, along with Playdough and takeaway bags for the kids. PRPS wants the checkup to be a positive experience for the child and parent(s).  

“The advantages (of registering a child in Kindergarten or Junior Kindergarten) are early exposure to peer social interactions and early exposure to communication,” stated Lindsay. “We want to focus on those early language skills because they are a precursor to literacy. We’ve notice since COVID there has been an uptick in children who have been identified with expressive and receptive language delays and it might have something to do with the fact these little ones weren’t exposed to society during COVID.” 

Receptive language skills are the ability to understand what another person is saying. Expressive language skills are the ability to tell another person your thoughts and feelings. Not just within PRPS, but across the province, school divisions are seeing an increase in the needs of early learners.  

“The hope would be that just being in a setting that is led by an adult outside of the family, along with peers, that we can get those language skills and early literacy skills strong so when they get into Grade 1, they have a level playing field,” continued Lindsay.  

Due to PRPS being a rural school district that is geographically diverse, schedules for Kindergarten and Junior Kindergarten are different for each school. In some schools, Kindergarten is full days twice a week and in others it is three half days. A few schools also have the Learn and Explore program for children, which is a pay for service program that is more like playschool but with academics integrated.  

For more information about Junior Kindergarten, Kindergarten or early learning supports at PRPS schools, visit https://www.myprps.com/jk-and-kindergarten-prps. There are links available to frequently asked questions as well as to schedules at each of the schools for the 2024-25 school year.  

Book a Check-Up Appointment: https://schoolinterviews.ca/code/7m3kr 

By Samantha Johnson, Prairie Rose Public Schools Content Writer